(English) by First Name: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V-Z

By Language: French   German   Greek   Italian   Polish   Romanian   Russian   Spanish   Turkish

Jessica M.: Mother of Linear Morphea Patient

My daughter Payton is nine years old, and she has been sick since she was a baby with asthma and eczema.

About eight months ago my daughter developed a dark circle on her leg. It looked like a deep bruise, but we let it go. It never went away so I took her to our family doctor and he referred me to a local dermatologist. He biopsied the area and it came back as morphea. He informed me that we should see a pediatric dermatologist; the nearest one was in Houston, Texas.

The pediatric dermatologist diagnosed it as linear morphea. The treatment she is going with is IV therapy of corticosteroids for three months, three consecutive days, methotrexate, and dovanex ointment for the leg.

I need input on these drugs. The methotrexate is very harsh. Has anyone had this drug? What is the outcome of linear morphea? Is there a cure? Will it come back or leave for good? This is all very new to me so please email me.

To Contact the Author

ISN Artist: Sherrill Knaggs (In Loving Memory)

Sherrill Knaggs, ISN Artist, created the digital photo to illustrate the story on this page. Sherrill lived in New Zealand. Her story was featured in ISN's book, Voices of Scleroderma Volume 2.

ISN Story Editor: Judith Thompson Devlin

Judith Thompson Devlin is the ISN Story Editor for this story. She is also lead editor of the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series!

TOLL FREE HOTLINE, U.S. and Canada: 1-800-564-7099
Ask for our Free Info Packet by email or postal mail!

SCLERO.ORG is the world leader for trustworthy research, support, education and awareness for scleroderma and related illnesses, such as pulmonary hypertension. We are a service of the nonprofit International Scleroderma Network (ISN), which is a 501(c)(3) U.S.-based public charitable foundation, established in 2002. Meet Our Team, or Volunteer. Donations may also be mailed to:

The most important thing in the world to know about scleroderma is sclero.org!